Golf club heads with turbulators and methods to manufacture golf club heads with turbulators

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11904217-B2
Application number	US-202117645510-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2021
Priority date	Oct 31, 2011
Publication date	Feb 20, 2024
Grant date	Feb 20, 2024

Abstract

A golf club head includes a crown surface having an apex at a highest point and extending between the face, the rear, the heel and the toe of the golf club head. The golf club head also includes a plurality of crown turbulators projecting from the surface of the crown and located between the face and the apex, wherein each adjacent pair of crown turbulators is separate and spaced apart to define a space between the adjacent pair of crown turbulators.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A golf club head comprising:
a crown, a sole, a toe end, a heel end, a face portion defining a loft plane, a rear portion, and a leading edge between the face portion and the crown;
a crown insert comprising a top surface and a bottom surface; and
a plurality of turbulators including a plurality of ridges integrally formed on the top surface of the crown insert, wherein each ridge of the plurality of ridges includes:
a base positioned directly adjacent to the top surface of the crown insert;
a top surface opposite the base of the ridge;
a ridge apex defined as a maximum height of the ridge measured in a direction perpendicular from the base of the ridge;
a front surface comprises a first end closest to the face portion and a second end closest to the ridge apex; and
a rear surface defining a portion of the ridge being closest to the rear portion of the golf club head, extending from behind the ridge apex towards the rear portion of the club head;
wherein:
the crown further comprises a crown apex;
the crown further comprises a length measured from the face portion to the rear portion;
the crown apex is located in a front region of the crown rearward of the leading edge and along a centerline extending from the face portion to the rear portion of the golf club head;
the golf club head further comprises a recess in the crown;
the crown insert is configured to be received by the recess in the crown;
each turbulator of the plurality of turbulators is completely located in a forward two-fifths of the length of the crown;
the ridge apex of each ridge of the plurality of ridges is positioned within a first 50% of a ridge length; and
the ridge apex is between 0.02 inch (0.51 mm) and 0.07 inch (1.78 mm).

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the crown insert is configured to sit flush with the crown to create a smooth and continuous surface.

3. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ridges extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to the face portion.

4. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the crown insert is adhesively attached to the recess in the crown.

5. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the ridge length is substantially greater than a ridge width, wherein the ridge width is defined as extending in a direction from the heel end to the toe end.

6. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the top surface extending between the front surface and the rear surface, the top surface having a width extending in a direction from the heel end to the toe end of the club head.

7. The golf club head of claim 6 , wherein the base extends an entire length of the ridge in a direction from the front surface to the rear surface of the ridge; and the base having a width extending in a direction from the heel end to the toe end of the club head, wherein the width of the top surface is at least 50-90% of the width of the base.

8. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ridges is selected from the group consisting of: at least 2 ridges, at least 3 ridges, at least 4 ridges, at least 5 ridges, and at least 6 ridges.

9. The golf club head of claim 8 , wherein the first end of the front surface is positioned on the leading edge.

10. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein: at least a pair of ridges are separate and spaced apart to define a space between the pair of ridges, and each ridge extends between the heel end and the toe end to define a width and extends between the face portion and the rear portion to define a length; the length is substantially greater than the width for the pair of ridges; the space between each pair of ridges is substantially greater than the width of each adjacent pair of ridges that define the space.

11. A golf club head comprising:
a crown, a sole, a toe end, a heel end, a face portion defining a loft plane, a rear portion, and a leading edge between the face portion and the crown;
a crown insert comprising a top surface and a bottom surface; and
a plurality of turbulators including a plurality of ridges integrally formed on the top surface of the crown insert, wherein each ridge of the plurality of ridges includes:
a base positioned directly adjacent to the top surface of the crown;
a top surface opposite the base of the ridge;
a ridge apex defined as a maximum height of the ridge measured in a direction perpendicular from the base of the ridge;
a front surface comprises a first end closest to the face portion and a second end closest to the ridge apex; and
a rear surface defining a portion of the ridge being closest to the rear portion of the golf club head, extending from behind the ridge apex towards the rear portion of the club head;
wherein:
the crown further comprises a crown apex;
the crown further comprises a length measured from the face portion to the rear portion:
the crown apex is located in a front region of the crown rearward of the leading edge and along a centerline extending from the face portion to the rear portion of the golf club head;
the golf club head further comprises a recess in the crown;
the crown insert is configured to be received by the recess in the crown;
the recess is defined by a depth that ranges from approximate 0.001 inch to approximately 0.05 inch;
each turbulator of the plurality of turbulators is completely located in a forward two-fifths of the length of the crown;
the ridge apex of each ridge of the plurality of ridges is positioned within a first 50% of a ridge length; and
the ridge apex is between 0.02 inch (0.51 mm) and 0.07 inch (1.78 mm).

12. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the front surface is angled from the loft plane at a range from 87 degrees to 100 degrees.

13. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the ridge apex of each ridge of the plurality of ridges is positioned within the first 50% of the ridge length.

14. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein each ridge of the plurality of ridges comprises: a pair of side walls extending from the base to the top surface, and wherein each side wall tapers towards the top surface at an angle of no less than 60 degrees.

15. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the top surface extending between the front surface and the rear surface, the top surface having a width extending in a direction from the heel end to the toe end of the club head.

16. The golf club head of claim 15 , wherein the base extends an entire length of the ridge in a direction from the front surface to the rear surface of the ridge; and the base having a width extending in a direction from the heel end to the toe end of the club head, wherein the width of the top surface is at least 50-90% of the width of the base.

17. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of ridges is selected from the group consisting of: at least 2 ridges, 3 ridges, at least 4 ridges, at least 5 ridges, and at least 6 ridges.

18. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the leading edge comprises a leading edge plane forming a leading edge angle with the loft plane, wherein the first end of the front surface of each ridge of the plurality of ridges being at least partly located between the leading edge plane and the rear portion, but not extending beyond the leading edge plane.

19. The golf club head of claim 18 , wherein the first end of the front surface is positioned on the leading edge.

20. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein:
a pair of ridges are separate and spaced apart to define a space between the pair of ridges,

Assignees

• Karsten Mfg Corp

Inventors

• Henrikson Erik M
• Wood Paul D
• Hart John
• Jertson Marty R
• Stokke Ryan M
• Chen Xiaojian
• Simone Matthew W
• Huang Yujen

Classifications

• A63B53/0466 Primary

  wood-type · CPC title

• A63B53/04 Primary

  Heads · CPC title

• A63B60/52

  with slits · CPC title

• A63B53/0408

  characterised by specific dimensions, e.g. thickness · CPC title

• A63B53/0412

  Volume · CPC title